1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the maintenance of semi trucks, and more specifically to a tool for removing, supporting, and moving an entire spindle assembly from a semi truck axle shaft. The entire spindle assembly includes the spindle, bearings, washers, hub cap, and hub.
2. Background of the Invention
There are many patents related to spindle puller tools indicating the wide scope of such inventions. Numerous spindle puller tools have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to remove the wheel spindles from the axle shafts of motor vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,827 to Abel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,873 to Rotman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,631 to Welch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,450 to Pool and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,528 to Stromberg all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units are designed as spindle pullers they would not be as suitable for the purpose of removing, supporting, and moving an entire spindle assembly from semi trucks. It is easier to perform maintenance on the spindle assembly after removing it from the truck. However, the spindle assembly on semi trucks may weigh in excess of 200 lbs. so it is difficult to manually lift and move. It typically requires two mechanics to manually lift and move the entire spindle assembly, but only one mechanic is required with the spindle removal tool.